Journey to the Heart
by jadedolphin
Summary: Spinelli believes that he and Maxie are meant to be together but sometimes the path to true love is different than what you expect. When his soulmate is right in front of him, will the ever-observant Spinelli realize it? Will she? SpinelliXOC. Some Jasam.
1. Chapter 1

Journey to the Heart

_This story begins sometime around 2007 and follows many of the major events of the show up to the present. Some details may be changed a little to suit my purposes but I will try to keep things as close to the way they were on the Soap as possible, please forgive any inconsistencies._

_This is set not long after Georgie died when Spinelli first began to fall for Maxie. Jason and Elizabeth are currently trying to figure out their relationship and Sam is with Lucky. I'll only include other characters, as needed for the plot but the story won't focus on them. _

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the inhabitants of Port Charles, but the original characters belong to me.

Chapter 1

"Oh really, this is just great…" The young woman sighed as she passed by the same building for the third time in an hour. It was her first time out of the apartment that she had just moved into in Port Charles and had been walking for hours in her exploration of the city; now it was dark and she was hungry, tired, and without her older sister as a guide she had become hopelessly lost. She sighed heavily again and sat down on a nearby bench to consider her options. She could always call a cab to take her home or something but there was still the fact that there was only the bare minimum of food in the refrigerator and she wasn't the best cook anyway. '_Okay fine,'_ she thought, _'I'll just have to eat out tonight and work on getting groceries tomorrow. Now I wonder where would be a good place for a late night snack 'round here…' _ Rising from the bench, the young woman took in her surroundings, her mahogany-brown hair whipped around her face in the slight breeze. She spotted a figure on another bench and decided to ask his help, normally the stubborn girl hated to ask for directions but after wandering around aimlessly for half the day she was willing to deal with it.

Marilyn cautiously approached the young man who sat slightly slumped over on the bench and hoped that he wasn't asleep.

"Um, excuse me… sir?" She asked gently, trying not to startle him. Despite her tone, he still jumped slightly, having not heard her approach, but he recovered quickly and his eyes slowly slid up to meet hers. Her breath caught in her chest and she hesitated for a moment, mesmerized by the overwhelming sadness and dejection held by the incredibly beautiful gray-blue orbs. "Oh…um…" she stammered a little as her mind snapped back into focus, he blinked at her curiously. "Sorry to bother you, but you don't happen to know of any good eating places around here do you?" The man closed his eyes or a moment before answering.

"Kelly's diner is in this proximity and it holds a special place in the Jackal's heart for its convenient availability of service especially when an emergency supply of barbeque chips and orange soda are of necessity. However, I suppose the diner itself does not manufacture those items, but my good friend and mentor does have a taste for the soups and salads that are made there."

This monologue almost seemed to occur in one breath and the girl merely blinked at him for a moment before smiling bemusedly at the rather longwinded answer to her question.

"Oh… ok thanks." Feeling his services were no longer needed, the young man resumed his slumped over position on the bench, with his head cradled dejectedly in his hands. The young woman watched him for a moment debating what she should do next. "Hey" she said suddenly, "Forgive me if I'm being nosy but… are you all right? You look like you've seen better days."

"No the Jackal (she assumed he was speaking about himself at the moment) is not alright, he is consumed with woe and the utmost self – loathing. " He sighed and closed his eyes again. She watched him with a look of sympathy in her eyes.

"Wow that does sound awful, but you know what I've found to be a good cure for most problems?"

"What?"

"First is a sympathetic ear and second and most important…" Her face took on a serious expression before cracking into a slight smirk as she continued "…a generous helping of ice cream. Maybe if you show me this diner, we can talk." He regarded her with a guarded, yet hopeful, expression.

"But you don't know me, surly you have better things to occupy your time than to listen to the ramblings of this pitiful excuse for a figure of manliness."

"Hey, sometimes strangers make the best listeners; I reserve the right to be completely objective." She smiled encouragingly and offered her hand. He hesitated for a moment before finally grasping it and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. "Come on, let's go." She stepped back and allowed her companion to take the lead as the two started off toward Kelly's.

"I'm Marilyn Seaver by the way."

"Damian Spinelli aka the 'Jackal: Ace of Cyberspace' at your service." Marilyn laughed softly as she fell into step beside him. Port Charles certainly housed some strange people all right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the General Hospital characters except for Marilyn.

Chapter 2

It was nearly 11:00 by the time the Marilyn and Spinelli made it to Kelly's and there were few people still there. Mike, who was behind the counter wiping it off with a rag, looked up as the two entered and offered a warm smile.

"Hey Spinelli, you're here late tonight." Then noticing his companion, he smiled wider with a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes. "Who's your friend?" Spinelli seemed slightly flustered for a second and realizing what probably had run through the older man's mind, Marilyn hastened to clear things up.

"Uh hi. I'm Marilyn; I just moved here and was looking for someplace to eat but managed to get myself pretty turned around. Mr. Spinelli here was kind enough to show me to your diner."

"Well it's nice to meet you Marilyn, I'm Mike. Why don't you make yourself comfortable and I'll get you a menu."

"Thanks a lot" Marilyn said as she gratefully sank into a seat near the window, Spinelli sat across from her hesitantly. Mike walked over and handed her the menu and she scanned it for a minute before looking up with a smile. "Could I get the biggest sundae that you have on the menu please." She glanced coyly at her companion across the table before adding "Uh with two spoons."

"Coming right up." Mike gave one more curious glance at Spinelli before grabbing the menu and heading to the back.

"Okay" she said as soon as Mike got out of hearing range (**A/N:** And I mean completely out of hearing range, because in case some of you haven't noticed, some of the people of Port Charles seem to have bionic ears and hear just about everything that they shouldn't. Just thought I would point that out, lol.) "So what is it that's gotten you to think so badly about yourself?"

After a couple of minutes of reflection, Spinelli began to haltingly tell her all about his friendship with Georgie, her death, (leaving out the true cause of course), and his subsequent friendship with her sister. About half way through the story, Mike returned with a huge ice cream sundae with all the fixings and the two ate as Spinelli continued to ramble on. By the time he came to his growing feelings for Maxie and her ignorance of his affections, the bowl as well as the diner were empty.

"Wow." Was about the most that Marilyn could say at the end of the tale; surprisingly enough she had no trouble in understanding the sporadic way that Spinelli attempted to explain himself. She considered him for a few minutes as he sat with eyes averted, playing with his spoon absently. "This Maxie must be pretty special for you to be so head over hills for her, but if you ask me, she seems to be pretty blind." Spinelli opened his mouth to protest, but she held up her hand to stop him. "Let me finish, I don't know anything about Maxie, but in the one hour I've known you, I can tell just how incredibly special you are and that any girl would be damn lucky to be with you. Now maybe Maxie just needs more time to realize that, but if you need to change yourself in order for her to like you, then she doesn't deserve you and your doing yourself a serious injustice. Just relax and continue to be yourself, if it's meant to be then it will happen." She gave him an encouraging smile, and was delighted when he hesitantly met her eyes and offered a small hopeful smile of his own."

"You truly have a most noble and beautiful soul; you rescued me, a complete stranger, from the depths of despair and helped me to see a ray of hope."

"Well, I don't know about all of that…" Marilyn said blushing. "I think I just told you something that you already knew; sometimes it takes the perspective of a stranger to open your eyes to what's already in your heart." Before Spinelli could reply, their conversation was interrupted by Mike who approached them with a regretful look on his face.

"Hey guys, I hate to kick you outta here but…" He looked around to indicate the diner that they had somehow failed to notice, had emptied out completely while they were still talking. "I'm bout to close up shop for the night." Marilyn jumped to her feet alarmed after stealing a quick glance at her watch.

"Ohmigosh I'm so sorry! We must have lost track of time, we'll get out of your way." Mike caught her arm as she scrambled for her wallet.

"Hey now, don't worry about it, you two looked to be having such a good time I hated to disturb you. I hope that you decide to come back." He gave her a friendly smile that seemed to relax her once again.

"Definitely, that was one of the best sundaes that I've had in a while!"

"Glad to hear it." By this time Spinelli had gained his feet and gotten his money out and was stopped from handing it to Mike by Marilyn.

"Whoa, you don't have to pay for anything Spinelli, it was my ice cream and I kinda did drag you in here with me."

"It is the least the Jackal can do to repay the kindness of this noble beauty who took time to impart words of wisdom and hope to this broken down soul." Marilyn blushed, speechless by the words of high praise, but released his arm and allowed him to pay. After thanking Mike for the service and saying their goodbyes the two kids headed out into the night.

"Wow. I don't know about you, but I had a lot of fun tonight, I didn't even realize just how late it was." She paused, yawning, then laughed self-consciously. "Umm it's been kind of a long day, I hate to ask another favor of you, but could you direct me to the Harbor View Penthouses?"

"That's where you live?" Spinelli asked surprised.

"Uh yeah. I just moved in with my sister yesterday and I haven't really learned my way around yet. Why?" She regarded him warily at his sudden change in demeanor.

"Fates hand must have brought us together on this night, Noble One as I too am in residence at that location with Stone Cold, my master and mentor."

"Really, that's great! I live in PH6 what about you?"

"Penthouse number 4. We seem to be neighbors."

"I'm glad about that; you're the first friend I've made in Port Charles. It's good to know you'll be close by." At that, Spinelli laughed and offered him her arm.

"Well allow me to escort you to your home, my Noble Beauty." Marilyn blushed at the nickname but smiled all the same and took his arm.

"Right, home." For a moment she allowed herself to remember the circumstances that forced her to come to Port Charles in the first place, and all that she left behind in her small town back in Virginia. She at first had been depressed to move and figured that she would never be able to be happy anywhere else; but now having made a friend and knowing her sister would be returning from her business trip in the next few days, she dared to hope that one day she may be able to truly call this _home_. As the two of them began the walk home, a question popped into her mind.

"Hey Spinelli? Who on earth is Stone Cold?"


	3. Author's Note

**Authors Note**

**Hello readers,**

**I'm sorry for the delay in my updating but right now I am severely unmotivated. So far I have put up a couple of chapters for this story but I have not received any reviews or comments to gauge the reader's opinions about it. I rely on reviews to let me know whether or not my stories are worth the time it takes to write them and when I don't receive any, I begin to suspect that no one is interested. **

**That being said, I will not be uploading the next chapter unless I get at least 3 - 5 reviews, otherwise I'll assume that no one is interested in this and use my time for other pursuits. I don't like to threaten my readers but I am not sure how I want to proceed at this time.**

**For those who do review, all positive comments, questions, or suggestions are welcomed; negative reviews will promptly be deleted.**

** - Lynn**


End file.
